Nice to see Andy Potts Win Conzumel Ironman. One of the few USA triathlets that just seems to keep hammering away, by beating the competitions by over 5 min.

"Potts started the day in the usual fashion of leading the men out of the swim. His time of 45:17 was nearly 90 seconds faster then the next fastest swimmer, Stephen Bayliss of Great Britain. Potts headed out onto the three-loop bike course and held the advantage for most of the ride. Balazs Csoke of Hungary eventually joined him. The pair rode close together for much of the remaining bike ride before being caught by Argentina’s Oscar Galindez and Eduardo Sturla, and the United States’ Michael Lovato. With all of these changes taking place near the end of the bike, the group of Galindez, Sturla, Lovato, Csoke and Potts headed onto the marathon within 30 seconds of each other. Potts proved early on to be the enforcer of a strong marathon pace. He took the lead in the first few miles and never looked back, posting a 2:52:36 marathon to earn the 8:16:14 victory and a new course record. Fellow American Lovato capped a stellar day off with a 2:59:05 marathon to earn second." More..

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Do you feel like a slacker on the mornings you snoozed through your workout and
missed it altogether? You’ve heard sayings like, “while you’re sleeping, someone
else is training and getting better” touting those that drag out of bed at
ridiculous hours to train and deprive themselves of sleep. They may be getting
more training time in, but are they really improving their fitness and health?

Friday, November 19, 2010

Well it is official 38°12′S 176°20′E" is it, so he says. Lance can drum up attention for any event so this should be good. It might even give him a fighting chance, stinks for all the age groupers in the 40+.
His tweet.
"Four events, two days & one great location - a must do summer event at New Zealand’s best triathlon venue. The annual festival, on Auckland Anniversary weekend, attracts competitors from all around the North Island. In addition to an Aquathon and 2km lake swim, it also incorporates Rotorua’s only sprint triathlon. The swim leg of the triathlon can also be replaced with a kayak as a multisport option. Spread over two days, it allows competitors plenty of time to enjoy the stunning Rotorua lakes area between the races."

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The most famous feature of the Boston Marathon racecourse is Heartbreak Hill, a climb of 88 feet over 0.6 miles that begins just past the 20-mile mark of the race. But the most challenging feature of the course is probably its extensive downhill sections, including a 150-foot plummet in the first mile.
While running downhill generally feels easier, and is less taxing on the metabolic and cardiovascular systems then level or uphill running, it subjects the tissues of the lower extremities to significantly more strain. This strain causes muscle damage, soreness, and neuromuscular fatigue that can cripple runners later in the race. Runners who enter the Boston Marathon, or another marathon that has extensive downhill sections, without specific preparation for this challenge are often shocked by the toll exacted by the descents, and seldom run as well as they hope or expect to run.

The specific nature of the strain imposed by downhill running is called eccentric loading. An eccentric load occurs when an outside force tries to stretch a muscle as the muscle itself tries to resist that stretch by contracting. Eccentric loading takes place every time your foot makes contact with the ground when you run. The quadriceps muscles on the front of the thigh are subjected to the greatest eccentric loading. When your foot strikes the ground, impact forces try to make your knee buckle. Unconsciously, you contract your quadriceps to stabilize your knee and remain upright. But your knee does flex and your quads do stretch a bit when you land, so those muscles are essentially pulled in two directions simultaneously. This strain causes microscopic trauma to the muscle fibers. While eccentric loading occurs on all gradients, it is much greater when you are running downhill.

There are two consequences of the strain of running downhill. First, it limits performance and causes fatigue to occur more quickly in runners (and triathletes) who are unaccustomed to downhill running. The second consequence of the strain associated with running downhill is delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Indeed, when exercise physiologists wish to study exercise-induced muscle damage and DOMS, they almost always use downhill running to cause damage and soreness, because it does so more effectively than most other kinds of exercise.

Fortunately, practicing downhill running greatly increases fatigue resistance and eccentric loading tolerance in subsequent downhill runs. In fact, a single downhill run that is extreme enough to cause significant soreness provides a protective effect that lasts up to two months. However, it takes more than that to get the benefit that triathletes training for events featuring run courses with significant downhill sections want most, which is greater fatigue resistance on descents. This is probably because the body needs more exposure to downhill running to improve downhill running efficiency and to overcome the neuromuscular inhibition that limits downhill running performance.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

1
Work up to it. Create a plan for yourself that will get you doing one planche pushup over a few weeks or months of training. Start by working up to doing sets of 50 pushups without problem. Then gradually begin to move your hands towards your abdomen so that you start to focus your muscles for the planche pushup.
2
Do a tucked, negative planche. In the full version of the planche pushup, your legs will be fully extended and in the air as you do the exercise. To get started, though, plant your hands on the ground and raise your legs in a tucked position. Balance yourself by resting your knees on your elbows. Once you have your balance lower yourself as far as possible. Then resume the initial position. Continue with these negative until you feel confident with them.
3
Do a partial planche. Once you have built your strength adequately you can extend your legs. You will probably find that you will need to angle your legs upwards so that they form a 20- or 30-degree angle to your body. Do the partial planche like this, making sure that when you do the pushup you're moving straight up and down.
4
Move to the full planche. Start from a position where your hands are planted by your abdomen and you're suspending yourself midway between the up and down positions. Extend your legs all the way and raise them off the ground, balancing yourself on your hands. Keep tension throughout your whole body. Raise yourself up and down in a straight line, keeping your body as straight as an arrow as you go.

In Part 1, learn how to stabilize your handstand through the hollow-body position. According to Paoli, one of the misconceptions with the hollow-body position is that it is “closed down.” Paoli says: “It’s actually the most neutral position that we can possibly find in our body.” Find out how to challenge yourself with the hollow-body position and develop midline stability.

In Part 2, Paoli focuses on the headstand to develop head and hand position for a handstand. “In order to set ourselves up for success in the handstand push-up, we need to have that headstand down solid,” Paoli says. Using a stable triangular set-up, athletes will be able to develop control and balance.

In Part 3, Paoli scales the handstand push-up for different skill levels. The first step to getting inverted is a handstand push-up with your feet on the ground, working the distance between feet and hands and stance. The next step is elevating the feet to increase the difficulty, scaling elevation and stance. With smart progressions, you can make the handstand push-up accessible for any athlete.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Are you ready, break the norm and try something different, push yourself. Even if you fail at least you would have done one of the toughest challenge this year.

The website says:
"Tough Mudder is not your average lame-ass mud run or spirit-crushing ‘endurance’ road race. It’s Ironman meets Burning Man, and it is coming to a city near you. Our 7-12 mile obstacle courses are designed by British Special Forces to test all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. Forget finish times. Simply completing a Tough Mudder is a badge of honor. All Tough Mudder sponsorship proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior Project.
WARNING: A Tough Mudder is 3-4 times longer and much tougher than a typical mud run such as Warrior Dash. Only those in reasonable physical condition should enter."

From the visuals and information, you can judge it for yourself. If anything just do it, if you can.